Jackson Junior Legion advances to championship at state tournament

A week ago, the Jackson Post 158 junior American Legion baseball team was bounced from the Zone 4 tournament after just one win in three games.

Friday, that same Post 158 team stood one win away from a state championship.

Post 158 won a pair of games Friday in the Missouri Junior American Legion State Tournament, defeating Washington Post 218 8-3 and Eureka Post 177 4-2 to earn a berth in the championship game of the double elimination tournament at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Legion Field.

Jackson Junior Legion's Tristan Thele steals second base as Washington second baseman Kody Halmich tries to tag him during the third inning of their game in the Junior American Legion state tournament Friday, July 25, 2014 at Legion Field in Jackson. (Fred Lynch)

After earning a berth in the five-team field via hosting the state tournament, Post 158 has shown they not only belong in the field, they belong in the title game.

"We felt that way all along, even though we didn't win our way through," Post 158 coach Shelby Kight said. "We felt like we were right there all along."

Post 158 erased two painful losses to Eureka in the Zone 4 tournament with Friday's victory, which featured key plays from every facet of the game -- pitching, hitting and defense.

Post 158 (33-7) scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 2-2 tie in beating Eureka. This came after scoring four times in the top of the seventh inning to defeat Washington earlier in the day.

"These teams out here are pretty good," said Jackson shortstop Jay Hutchison, whose RBI single in the bottom of the third got Post 158 on the board in the win over Eureka. "We decided we're going show them who's the real team out here. I have all the confidence in the world in this team. We're the best team out here. We dominated all year, and we're gonna show it up here."

Post 158 earned its way to today's championship game with convincing wins over three elite zone champions.

The win over Eureka (32-7) was especially sweet, having lost to the same team twice in last week's Zone 4 tournament. Tyler Slinkard went the distance, allowing two runs on 11 hits while walking two and striking out three to get the win.

Post 158 spotted Eureka a first-inning run, then erased the deficit with two in the bottom of the third. Garret Reynolds singled and took second on a throwing error from the Eureka right fielder. Hutchison followed with a single to right that scored Reynolds to tie it at 1-1. Hutchison took second on a single by Cameron Duke and went to third when Ben Maudie flew out to deep right. Ryan Mize then bounced out to the pitcher, but Hutchison scored when he slid under the catcher's tag on the throw back from first to put Post 158 up 2-1.

In the sixth, Post 158's Tyler Slinkard led off with a single to left. Zach Elfrink laid down a sacrifice bunt, and Drew Miller, pinch running for Slinkard, was able to beat the throw to second. That brought up designated hitter Skylar Pease, whose job was to sacrifice the runners up one base. But his first attempt was fouled down the third-base line.

"On the first pitch I was obviously looking to bunt," Kight said. "But I saw how close the first baseman was in, and also saw how the second baseman was cheating over to compensate for the first baseman being in. So I saw a big hole there, and had a lot of confidence in Skylar. He's come through with big hits for us all year. ... I saw an opportunity and just decided to let him swing."

On the next pitch, Pease came through with a sharp single to center that plated Miller with the go-ahead run and put runners at the corners.

"I got up there and had that foul down the third-base line," Pease said about his attempted bunt. "He didn't give me [the bunt sign] the next time, and I got a pitch down the middle, and it went into play, and I could do nothing but smile."

Tristan Thele followed with a fly to right that scored Elfrink from third, the Post 158 third baseman avoiding the tag and sliding home with a run to make the score 4-2.

"Jackson had a very good outing on the mound," Eureka coach Ron Muse said. "Their pitcher threw extremely well. He had a lot of hop on his fastball, he had a good breaking pitch. He kept us a little off-balance. We had some opportunities in the fifth and sixth innings, and we didn't get them across, and that kind of hurt us a little bit.. They made [two] double plays. When they needed to make a play, they made a play."

Two plays in particular broke Eureka's back. In the fifth, with Hayden Zadrozinski at second with one out, Andrew Colin stroked a single to right field. Zadrozinski rounded third and tried to score, but he was cut down at home on a perfect peg from Ben Maudie.

Later in the inning, with runners at second and third, Nate Witherspoon hit a one-hop shot to Post 158 first baseman Ryan Mize, who knocked the ball down, retrieved it and outraced Witherspoon to the bag, diving head first to tag the bag for the inning-ending out.

In the sixth, Eureka had runners at second and third with one out when Brendon Keller hit a shot down the third base line. Post 158 third baseman Zach Elfrink snared the grounder and nearly got the runner at third, but maintained his composure and threw across the diamond to first for the out. Slinkard struck out the next batter to end the threat.

Eureka may get a chance for revenge today. It will face the winner of Friday's late game between Washington and Glendale in today's first game, with the winner needing to defeat Jackson twice to steal the title. Jackson will need just one win to claim the state championship.

"The good thing is, we're still in this, we get to play (Saturday)," Muse said. "Hopefully we can take the first game, then we're back in the championship, and anything can happen."

In the day's first game, Gavon Turner allowed just three runs in pitching a complete game and four Jackson batters had multiple hits as Post 158 defeated Washington Post 218 8-3.

Jackson Junior Legion starter Gavon Turner pitches to a Washington batter during the first inning of their game in the Junior American Legion state tournament Friday, July 25, 2014 at Legion Field in Jackson. (Fred Lynch)

Turner pitched shutout ball through five innings as Post 158 took a 4-0 lead into the sixth.

Washington (27-6) scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to pull within 4-3, but Post 158 tacked on four runs in the top of the seventh to give Turner some breathing room.

"We came through with some big hits late in the game, and those insurance runs really helped us out a lot," Kight said. "Right now it's all coming together, and we're playing the best when it means the most."

Thele was 3 for 4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in for Post 158. His two-run single highlighted Jackson's four-run seventh inning, which began with Ben Maudie's triple to the fence in deep center field.

"I think we're just starting to roll," said Maudie, who finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs. "We started off not so good with the bats in the last game (a 3-2 win over Glendale on Thursday), and this game we're starting to pick up the bats. If we do that, we're going to be a tough team to beat."

Post 158's 14-hit attack allowed Turner to relax on the mound. He allowed three runs -- all unearned -- on seven hits while walking two and striking out two.

"I didn't really feel that great," Turner said. "I could have thrown better, but I had my defense and everybody else come through for me."

Duke had an RBI single that plated Thele from third in the third inning to put Post 158 on the board. He added an RBI double in the fifth, and Maudie followed with a two-run single to left-center to put Jackson up 4-0.

"Obviously, (Turner) pitched a heck of a game," Washington coach Phillip Kleekamp said. "He kept the ball in the zone. Their defense made a heck of a lot of plays behind him. They didn't make any stupid mistakes. They played really clean ball today. They made two double plays to snuff out a couple of rallies, so we've got to tip our caps to them. They were hitting the ball and finding a lot of holes, way more than we were."

Jackson Post 158 001 030 4 -- 8 14 4

Washington Post 218 000 003 0 -- 3 7 2

WP -- Gavon Turner. LP -- Adam Gauzy. 3B -- Ben Maudie (J). 2B -- Garret Reynolds (J), Jay Hutchison (J), Cameron Duke (J). Multiple hits -- Washington: Trey Hunter 3-3; Jackson: Reynolds 3-4, Tristan Thele 3-4, Duke 2-4, Maudie 2-4. Records -- Jackson 32-7, Washington 27-6.

Jackson 4, Eureka 2

Eureka Post 177 100 100 0 -- 2 11 1

Jackson Post 158 002 002 x -- 4 6 1

WP -- Tyler Slinkard. LP -- Nate Witherspoon. HR -- Andrew Bujnak (E). 2B -- Patrick Cleary (E), Garret Reynolds (J). Multiple hits -- Eureka: Hayden Zadrozinski 3-4, Andrew Colin 2-4, Bujnak 2-3, Cleary 2-3; Jackson: Reynolds 2-4. Records -- Eureka 32-7, Jackson 33-7.